Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Perfect Pairing:  Candy corn topping

Growing up we didn’t have store bought treats in the house.  When my brothers or I were offered a Little Debbie at a friend’s house, we were all over it.  

What we did have at home were amazing homemade desserts every so often, and those most definitely trumped any Little Debbie treat.  One of my all-time favorites were Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes. 

Oh gracious, are these fantastic.  My mom got the recipe from a cookbook created by a Sunday school class at our church, called the Circuit Rider’s Cookbook.  

As a little background, a Circuit Rider was a Methodist minister that would ride on horseback from rural church to rural church to preach the good news. 

Well if you know anything about church ladies, you know they can cook, so this little well-loved cookbook has some real gems in it.  You know you have a jackpot recipe when there are stains all over it!

So what we have here are scrumptious from scratch chocolate cupcakes that are piped full of creamy deliciousness and then iced with chocolate fudge icing.  Little Debbie would be ashamed to stand next to them. 

We always seem to make them in the fall and top them off with a candy corn. 

They are a surefire family favorite!  

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Sloppy Joe Dip

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Pumpkin Crisp

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Four years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Halloween Candy Bark

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Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Perfect Pairing:  Food processor

 

About five or six years ago (it could have been more) my mom called me one morning to ask if I was watching GMA.  They were doing a segment on a new fitness craze called Zumba.  It was a high energy cardio class that was mainly composed of Latin music and Latin dancing.  I was immediately intrigued.  I started in dance class when I was 3 years old, and continued to dance through high school on the dance team.  I was also a huge fan of Latin music and Latin dancing, so Zumba seemed like a great fit for me.  I did some research and found a Zumba class in Chicago and tried it out one Saturday morning. I was completely hooked.  It was such a great workout (you can burn up to 700 calories in a class) and it was truly fun. 

Through the years I visited many many many Zumba classes in Chicago.  When I say many, I mean in the 100s.  I kept trying new instructors until I found one that was a good fit, which meant I liked their music, energy, and style.  Even though there were free Zumba classes offered at my gym I was still paying a hefty amount to take classes from my favorite instructors.  Somewhere along the way I started thinking maybe I could be an instructor. 

Last November I became official.  I was a certified Zumba instructor!  I spent the next few months coming up with routines and practicing.  I practiced a lot in my living room, which was definitely not as fun as a class environment!  I finally worked up the nerve to apply at a gym in March. Within one week I had an audition, and later that day I was offered a teaching job teaching two classes a week!  I was going to start the following week!  I was pumped!  And terrified!

It was so surreal to walk into the class as the instructor and not the student.  After that first class I knew I had made the right decision, and all the hard work was totally worth it.  I loved it.  If you’re interested you can find out more about my classes at http://lindsayrodgers.zumba.com/. 

 

After my mom took one of my classes in Chicago (see above) her wheels started spinning on how to have me teach where she lives.  So she organized a class for some of our family friends on her dock.  One morning a few weeks ago we had 9 lovely ladies down on the dock at 8 AM for a Zumba class!  It was a blast.  It was definitely the best view I have ever had during a class!  I think there were a few boaters passing by that had a hard time not staring at this strange occurrence. 

 

I am pretty sure everyone had a great time, and I have received requests for another dock Zumba class later this summer.  To thank everyone for coming, and to reward them for the great workout, I made this Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake. 

 

I followed this recipe.  The only changes I made were to use the food processor to make the crumb topping and the cake.  It was so much easier than cutting in the butter manually.  I would suggest using up the last of the season’s rhubarb with this recipe.  It was amazing.  Seriously. 

As long as we’re talking about rhubarb, you could also make this super simple, super yummy, Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp.  Why not have the perfect combination strawberry and rhubarb for breakfast (coffee cake) and dessert (crisp)!?

 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Shrimp and Arugula Pesto Grilled Pizza

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Corn and Avocado Salsa

 

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Pumpkin Roll

Perfect Pairing:  Wax paper tracing method

So far I have shared my favorite sausage and dried cherry stuffing and sweet potato casserole recipes, as well as a simple rotisserie turkey breast and homemade cranberry sauce.  What’s missing from this Thanksgiving lineup?  Dessert! 

Of course you have to have pumpkin and pecan pie on the dessert table.  I went for most of my life thinking I didn’t like pecan pie.  I was wrong, I love it.  If you want to try something a little different this year try out this delicious pumpkin roll.  Basically it is a pumpkin cake wrapped around cream cheese frosting.  Pretty awesome.

My mom and I talked about wanting to try making a pumpkin roll for a long time.  She had a recipe from a friend that is dated 1991.  It only took us 20+ years to try it out.

This dessert was really easy to make but looks fancy!  You just need to follow some simple prep instructions.  First, you grease the baking dish and then line the bottom of it with wax paper and grease that as well.  The easiest way to cut the wax paper to size is to place the bottom of the pan over the paper and trace with a pencil and then cut it out.  Perfect fit!  After the pumpkin cake bakes you flip it onto a sugared tea towel while it is still hot.

Then you roll up the cake in the towel and allow to cool.  This ensures that the cake will keep its shape and not tear when you roll it around the frosting.

Once the cake has cooled you unroll it, remove the towel, spread on the cream cheese frosting, and roll it back up and chill until ready to serve.

Well that officially completes my Thanksgiving 2013 recipe roundup!  It would bring me great joy to know someone added one of these dishes to their dinner table.  Have a blessed holiday!

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Nutella Crunch Ice Cream Cake

Perfect Pairing:  Freezer Space

When I saw this cake on Foodgawker I knew I had to make it.  There are only three ingredients, vanilla ice cream, rice krispies, and nutella.  These are all very good things.  It kind of reminded me of everyone’s favorite Lake House Brownies.

I followed this recipe from Family Feast exactly, down to chilling the bowls and pan.  They give great instructions.  It takes up quite a bit of freezer space, but it is worth making the room.  They recommend letting the finished product freeze for 4-6 hours or overnight.  I believe I took it out around 4 hours and it was a little soft.  It would have been fine to eat right away but I wanted to take pictures.  This ended up being quite the scene. 

I removed the dessert from the springform pan and placed it on the pedestal I had picked out for the pictures.  It looked lovely!  Maybe a little soft, but I would make it work.  Plan A was to put it on the counter and stand above it on a chair.

Well the lighting was all off and it clearly was not going to work.  It was also melting very fast.  I knew I needed to hurry.  In my rush to jump off the chair I sustained an injury.  This particular chair has sharp metal corners.  I had spent the day by the lake so I was in my swimsuit and a skirt.  The sharp metal corner got me in the back of my leg right by the, uh…. Tush.  I don’t often swear but man I wanted to at that moment.  Grandma Rosie was right there so that was not going to happen.  Once I stopped seeing stars I carried the cake into a different room with better light.  Annnnd dripped the entire way.

OK, the dessert was in good light and I started snapping away.  It kept dripping. 

I finally got a somewhat decent picture and quickly got the whole thing back in the freezer.  The next day when it came out of the freezer it was the perfect consistency and sliced beautifully.  Also, it was absolutely delicious.  How could it not be amazing?  Totally worth the embarrassing injury and messy floor.

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World’s Best Chocolate Layer Cake

Perfect Pairing:  Vegetable peeler

There has been no official study proving that this truly is the World’s Best Chocolate Layer Cake, but I think it is definitely the best.  Perhaps I am too emotionally attached to make an unbiased decision.  You see, this is my birthday cake!  My wonderful mom makes it for me every year.  Proof…

1997

Try not to be jealous of my awesome short-sleeved sweater with shoulder pads.  Not sure what I was trying to accomplish with the hand under the chin move.

2002

2012

That is when my age started with a "3"!

2013
 

I love the story behind this cake and how it became my personal birthday dessert.  My mom first tasted it at a family reunion in the summer of 1982.  She was 9 months pregnant with me and picked up a piece of this cake in the potluck line.  She absolutely loved it, and really wanted the recipe.  She left a note on the cake asking the cake-maker to find her and share the recipe.  I love that story!

The actual cake portion is nothing crazy, just a standard cake mix.  It is the chocolate layer in between the cake that makes this special.  This is how it goes down.

Slice the two 9 inch cakes in half, lengthwise.  This is much easier to manage if you freeze the cakes first.

Spread a layer of melted chocolate and toasted slivered almonds.  This layer hardens as it chills and just makes the whole thing over the top delicious.  It is kind of like a candy bar in the middle of the cake. 

 Another layer of cake, layer of cool whip, then more chocolate

Top everything off with cool whip and chocolate curls. 

Use a vegetable peeler to make chocolate curls before melting the rest of the chocolate.  It is so simple but adds a nice touch to the finished cake.

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Apple Cake with Warm Caramel Sauce

Perfect Pairing: Whipped cream

I think it is fair to say that some of the best recipes come from our grandmas and grandma’s friends.  Am I right?  My mom got this recipe from her mother’s friend years and years ago.  The recipe card is yellowed with age.   I think that this might be the best fall dessert ever.  Seriously.  It is amazing.  You know the famous book, How to Win Friends & Influence People?  You don’t need that book, just this recipe. 

I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is a week away!  This apple cake would be a perfect way to round out your holiday dessert table.

When the first fall weather hit my mom wanted to make apple cake.  My parents were in the process of moving and she had no idea where her recipe cards were, probably in a storage unit somewhere miles away.  She decided to make a cake that she saw made on the Food Network by a certain gorgeous Italian vixen.  Well it didn’t go over well.  Apparently it was not good at all and my dad told her to throw away the recipe.  This coming from the man who could win the eating section on Fear Factor meant it was really not good.  He likes everything!  Lesson learned, stick with the original family recipe. 

I learned another lesson with this dessert.  The original sauce recipe said to use cream or milk.  When I went to make the sauce I figured I could use evaporated milk instead of normal milk, and if that worked why not use fat free evaporated milk?  BAD idea.  It still tasted great but was not pretty.  After a little experimenting with an immersion blender it was just right, but not worth the work.  Just use whole milk or cream. Mmmm K?  Trust me.

 The Perfect Pairing for this apple cake with warm caramel sauce is whipped cream.  Why not?  Just do it. 

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Fish Cake

Perfect Pairing:  Child’s Birthday

A couple of years ago my mom gave me the task of coming up with a birthday cake and theme for my nephew’s 4^th birthday party at the lake house.   It was just going to be family at the party, but we still wanted to make it special. 

I was pretty sure my cake decorating skills were not so great since I had never attempted decorating a cake before, and that seems like something that takes a lot of practice.  I watch shows about cake decorating on the Food Network and that makes me an expert on what I don’t know.

After throwing around a few ideas I landed on a fish/underwater theme since we were at the lake.  I am not sure if my nephew has an affinity towards fish or water themed creatures, but I thought it would be fun.  The entire theme revolved around a fish cake.  I chose a fish cake because it seemed like something I could pull off with help from my sister-in-law!

Here is what we did….

I baked two 9-inch chocolate cakes, left one cake intact, and cut shapes from the other cake, including the tail and fins. 

To craft the fish extremities I traced the cake pans onto waxed paper and cut out the circles.  On one of the waxed paper circles I sketched out the fins and tail, cut out the shapes, and played around with them until it started to look like a fish.  It took a few attempts, but it was worth it to figure it out before I started cutting into the cake!  Once all of the templates were cut out of waxed paper I laid the shapes over the cake and trimmed the cake with a sharp knife.  I found it was much easier to cut the cake while it was frozen.  I would recommend doing this.

We did not have a platter large enough for the cake so I had to get creative.  I found a sturdy piece of cardboard and covered it with blue tissue paper and then covered that with plastic wrap.  Voila!  The fish is now on water.  We frosted the cake with orange icing and decorated it with M&Ms and decorating gel.  For the eye, I cut a marshmallow in half and placed a blue M&M in the center, secured with a little frosting.

Here is the birthday boy with his fish cake!  Notice there are a few M&Ms missing.  It was hard to keep little hands away from them.

Case in point….

It was not hard to guess which piece of the fish the kids wanted on their plates! 

We even had themed party hats!

But they got in the way….

I think it was a hit!

It is hard to believe he turned six years old this week and started kindergarten.  I think he is a head taller than all the other kids in his class.  Happy birthday little man! 

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Lemon Trifle and Garden Woes

Perfect Pairing:  Trifle Bowl

See that little sprig of mint on top of that trifle?  I did not grow that.  I am apparently incapable of growing things. 

I am the daughter of a farmer!  My mom and grandma have some of the greenest thumbs I know!  What happened to me?

I would like to blame it on too much shade in my yard, the draught this summer, over-watering, or perhaps someone just hates my plants and killed them, but unfortunately, I think I am just no good at plants. 

Every year I get so excited to plant my window boxes.  I have very little sun on my patio so I stick to shade-loving varieties.  I always try to grow herbs as well, knowing that this probably futile because of lack of sun. 

I have had trouble in the past, but never like this year.  This summer was a complete and utter flop.

Let’s just go on a little plant journey.

In early May I went to a fabulous nursery in Chicago called Gethsemane Gardens with my mom, brother, grandma, and nephews.  It was a nasty day outside but we persevered and spent a couple of hours there.

My grandma Rosie has the ultimate green thumb.  I have never met anyone that knows more about flowers.  What an appropriate name!  I love this picture of grandma and my nephew.

My nephews had fun acting like statues, climbing on the carts, collecting flowers that fell to the ground to give to their mom, and jumping in puddles.

A great time was had by all and I walked out with the makings of a beautiful window box and a great herb pot.  I was already planning the dishes I would make with my fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, chives, and mint, and I was thrilled with the final window box!

 A few weeks go by and my herbs start to look really sad.  I confer with my personal garden specialist, mom.

Then my window boxes just fail.  Everything, and I mean everything, dies.  I chalked it up to lack of sun.  I talked to my association and they agreed to cut some limbs from my trees. 

Ok, I was ready to start over.  My mom (garden specialist) came for a visit and we bought new plants and replanted the window boxes.

A few weeks go by and everything dies, again.  People, believe me, I was watering only when dry, using miracle grow, deadheading, etc.  I don’t know what happened.

I was determined to have pretty flowers on my patio so I went back to Home Depot and bought all new flowers, and dirt.  Third time is the charm, right? 

 Or am I just insane?

 I must just be insane. 

So currently I have window boxes with only asparagus fern and one basil plant (that would be the fourth one, for anyone who is counting) that is struggling to make it.  I think I am done with planting this summer. 

I think we can all agree that I should not be giving out plant advice, but I feel confident telling you to make this lovely dessert.  I have been making this trifle for years.  It is easy and refreshing.  The best part about it is that it is very light, practically fat free.

The Perfect Pairing for this dessert is a trifle bowl.  You could certainly make this in any bowl but I love using an actual trifle bowl so you can see the layers.

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